I spent 2.5 hours at the Seattle Aquarium today, and it is the second time that I have visited this establishment. My wife and I went there two years ago (see earlier review on this thread) and now decided to visit after last summer's $41 million expansion. We never spend quite as much time at all of the aquariums that we visit in comparison to the zoos, but it is still an enjoyable experience every time we go.
The good news is that the expansion/renovation of the aquarium is fantastic! The entrance is now in a different location, the outside of the building has been spruced up and repainted, there is a brand new cafe that is classy and well laid out, the entrance is much wider than normal, and the gift shop has been renovated and expanded as well.
The key to the expansion of the entrance is SPACE. At the old entrance visitors were bottlenecked near the river otter exhibit, and since that species of mammal is always engaging then there was the tendency for people to hang around and block the aisle. Now the river otters are the last exhibit in the aquarium (except for the obligatory exit through the gift shop) and so the new entrance is a massively wide area called "the great hall". There is a ton of space for people to mingle, check their maps, get their bearings and plan their visit without holding up any other incoming visitors.
After settling down in this large amount of space, the first thing that a visitor sees is the brand new, massive "Window on Washington Waters" tank that has an enormous tilted glass front that actually comes down at an angle. The top of the tank is probably at least 6 inches closer to the visitor than the bottom, and so it looms over everyone and welcomes them into the aquarium. There is absolutely zero signage at this tank, but a diver went in and fed the Puget Sound fish while attempting to explain that all of the animals can be found right off the coast of Seattle. The highlight was a large wolf eel that was stroked, patted and fed a healthy dose of fish food. The eel would wind itself around the head and body of the diver, and was remarkably tame and docile.
There is also a second, smaller new tank that curves along the side of a walkway, and it is called "Crashing Waves". This one has barely any fish in it, and again there is zero signage, but many children were happy to run back and forth as the machine stimulated wave crashed down upon the mock-rock beach. This tank isn't nearly as impressive as the "Window on Washington Waters" tank, but adds to the new look and is a decent addition. All of the new amenities look crisp and clean, and the welcoming hall and tanks are a huge improvement on how the aquarium appeared two years ago.
The inside sections of the Seattle Aquarium are all adequate, with a terrific pair of octopus tanks, a completely circular, 9-foot high jellyfish tank, and many smaller exhibits that are appealing and noteworthy. However, I still have major problems with the exhibits for the mammals. There are 2 harbour seals in a pitifully tiny tank, 4 sea otters without much space at all in a barren pair of tanks, and 3-4 northern fur seals in a tank that is also too small for such large animals. The puffins and other shorebirds are also in below-par exhibits and they tend to shy away from the public. Perhaps the aquarium needs to spend another $41 million and totally revamp their outside enclosures if they have any hope of joining the big boys like Georgia, John G. Shedd, Monterey, Vancouver and the Seaworlds.
